Ever Text the Wrong Person? Apple Might Have a Fix

We’ve all been embarrassed by accidentally sending a personal message to the wrong person. A newly published Apple patent details a potential solution that uses graphic cues to make it clearer who you’re messaging.

The proposed method is pretty straightforward. When you’re sending a message, the phone could detect who you are talking to and pull up an image associated with that person as a background picture. Typically, this would be a contact image from your address book or even a Facebook profile picture.

When a photo isn’t available, the system could display a generic contact image, and different background colors can be associated with contacts for clearer indication. To reduce distraction from the conversation, the contact photo can be dimmed or blended with a background color.

In group conversations, the patent proposes a grid layout with some or all of participants’ image in the background, and each picture can be resized so all of them can fit on the screen. The most recent sender’s picture could be framed by a box, or appear in color while others are in grayscale.

While we can’t tell when Apple intends to make this feature publicly available, we might see it when the company launches iOS 8, the next version of its operating system. We expect to see the new software in June when Apple hosts its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.